Take A Look Around

Phones are pretty damn good pieces of technology. Travel has a new lease of life thanks to them. Sometimes though, it’s easy to forget this – I certainly do.

I will admit that I am ever so slightly addicted to my phone, but I still manage to forget existing features that I could really make use of. There are a ton of apps I do make use of (which I will post on soon), such as one thing I rediscovered recently; panoramas. On most Smartphones now, there is the option to not just take a picture, but a ‘panorama’ / an almost 360 image of your location. I’ve done it in a few places, but I think it’s a really good idea for getting a feel for a place. Obviously Google Streetview is pretty much the ultimate in this, but there are some locations streetview can’t with it’s car. But people, and their phones can.

I’m in complete awe of the Galapagos Islands feature but there is a lot more places to experience; you can go to Versailles, the Pyramids of Giza, Yosemite, the Amazon and much, much more. I could spend hours and hours on there virtually exploring. Maybe that’ll be the next big thing, ‘Virtual Explorer.’ It’s not quite Ranulph Fiennes, but maybe one day it’ll be something!

If a picture speaks a thousand words, imagine what a panorama can say? It’s the closest you can come to being there in a picture really. Obviously, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still go there yourself, but it’s pretty sweet travel inspiration in the meantime.

What kind of panoramas have you ever produced?

Mine have nothing on Google, but nevertheless here are a few of my personal favourites (From my trips to Amsterdam / Scotland / Stockholm) :